Grip belt

ABSTRACT

A grip belt for wrapping about a sportswear&#39;s handle to form a grip is disclosed to include a main belt body having a bottom layer of non-woven fabric and a top layer of an open-pored material bonded to the bottom layer, and a subsidiary belt body made of a close-pored material bonded to the top layer of the main belt body. The subsidiary belt has a width smaller than the width of the main belt body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a grip belt for wrapping about the handle of a sportswear to form a grip and more particularly, to such a grip belt, which has an anti-slip characteristic.

2. Description of the Related Art

The handle of a gold club, hockey stick or tennis racket generally has a grip belt wrapped about the periphery for gripping by the user. The grip belt is usually a single belt of genuine or synthetic leather. A grip belt formed of cowhide has a poor shock absorbing ability, and the user's hand may ache easily when striking the club, stick or racket against a ball. Nowadays, shock absorbing grip having a cover layer formed of polyurethane bonded to a bottom layer formed of non-woven fabric is commonly used and spirally wrapped about the handle of a sportswear. The polyurethane cover layer is soft for comfortable gripping, and has a certain shock absorbing ability to absorb shocks when the user hits the ball. The bottom layer of non-woven fabric enhances the tensile strength of the grip, preventing breaking of the polyurethane cover layer during wrapping.

Various single-piece strip type grip designs have a polyurethane cover layer to provide a comfortable gripping, to improve anti-slip effect, or to enhance breathing effect have been disclosed. However, these conventional single-piece strip type grip designs are still not satisfactory in function. U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,929, entitled “TWO PIECE HANDLE GRIP”, discloses a shock absorbing grip having a two-piece strip formed of a polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer. This design improves the anti-slip effect and has a nice outer looking. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,923, entitled “GRIP FOR GOLD SHAFTS”, discloses a golf club shaft grip having a close-pored polyurethane layer bonded to a felt layer.

The aforesaid two U.S. patent inventions commonly use the same kind of polyurethane of close-pored structure for the top layer. When the sweat comes out of the user's hand and touches the grip, the grip cannot absorb or expel the sweat. At this time, the sportswear may slip from the user's hand. Further, the user must employ a relatively greater pressure to hold the handle after a long use of the sportswear, thereby lowering the shock absorbing effect of the grip. Further, because the bottom felt layer does not absorb shocks, the shock absorbing power of the grip is low.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a grip belt for sportswear handle that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a grip belt formed of a close-pored material and an open-pored material on a top surface thereof to provide anti-slip and sweat absorptive effects.

To achieve this objective of the present invention, the grip belt comprises an elongated main belt body and an elongated subsidiary belt body. The main belt body includes a bottom layer made of non-woven fabric and a top layer bonded to the non-woven fabric layer bottom layer and made of an open-pored material. The subsidiary belt body is bonded to the top layer of the main belt body and made of a close-pored material. The subsidiary belt has a width smaller than that of the main belt body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grip belt in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the grip belt according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken in an enlarged scale along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the grip belt of the present invention wrapped about a racquet handle.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an alternate form of the grip belt according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another alternate form of the grip belt according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of still another alternate form of the grip belt according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a grip belt 1 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown comprising a main belt body 10 and a subsidiary belt body 40.

The main belt body 10 is a narrow elongated strip having a top layer 20 bonded to a non-woven fabric bottom layer 30. The top layer 20 is made of an open-pored material for the advantages of having sweat absorption and nice touch characteristics. The main belt body 10 has two opposite side edges 11 and two opposite end edges 12. The length of the side edges 11 is greater than that of the end edges 12. Further, the side edges 11 are arranged in parallel.

The subsidiary belt body 40 is made of a close-pored material that has anti-slip and elastic characteristics. The subsidiary belt body 40 is bonded to the top layer 20. The subsidiary belt body 40 has two opposite side edges 41 and two opposite end edges 42. The length of the two opposite side edges 41 of the subsidiary belt body 40 is greater than the length of the end edges 42 of the subsidiary belt body 40. The two side edges 41 are arranged in parallel. Further, the width between the two side edges 41 of the subsidiary belt body 40 is smaller than the width between the two side edges 11 of the main belt body 10. Because the top layer 20 and the subsidiary belt body 40 are made of different materials having different hardness, the grip belt 1 provides different senses of touch to the user when it is spirally wrapped about the handle of a sportswear to form a grip on the handle of the sportswear.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 3 again, in this preferred embodiment the surface of the top layer 20 is ground by a surface treatment machine, forming a rough contacting surface 21. Thereafter, the subsidiary belt body 40 is bonded to the rough contacting surface 21 of the top layer 20. This rough contacting surface 21 enhances the bonding strength between the top layer 20 and the subsidiary belt body 40. One side edge of the subsidiary belt body 40 is abutted on one side edge of the main belt body 10. The two side edges 41 of the subsidiary belt body 40 are arranged in parallel to the two side edges 11 of the main belt body 10. Further, the width between the two side edges 41 of the subsidiary belt body 40 is smaller than the width between the two side edges 11 of the main belt body 10. When wrapping the grip belt 1 spirally about the handle 2 of a sportswear, the top layer 20 and the subsidiary belt body 40 are shown alternatively arranged around the handle 2 along the length, and the grip thus formed of the grip belt 1 provides a nice touch and good anti-slip and sweat absorption effects. The top layer 20 can be formed of open-pored polyurethane. The subsidiary belt body 40 can be formed of silicon material that has a bright surface. Further, the subsidiary belt body 40 can be coloured in a bright colour different from the top layer 20, enhancing the sense of beauty of the grip belt 1. If the sense of beauty is not the first condition to be taken into account, rubber or close-pored polyurethane may be used of making the subsidiary belt body 40.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an alternate form of the grip belt according to the present invention. According to this embodiment, the top layer 20 has a longitudinal part at one lateral side edge ground or stamped to provide a rough contacting surface, and therefore a recessed portion 50 is formed on the top layer of the main belt body 10 and abutted to one side edge of the main belt body 10. The recessed portion 50 has a width smaller than the width of the main belt body 10. The subsidiary belt body 40 is bonded to the recessed portion 50 and kept in flush with the surface of the top layer of the main belt body 10.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another alternate form of the grip belt according to the present invention. According to this embodiment, the top layer 20 has a longitudinal middle part ground or stamped to provide a rough contacting surface, and therefore a recessed portion 50 is formed on the surface of the main belt body 10. The two opposite side edges of the recessed portion 50 are arranged in parallel to the two opposite side edges 11 of the main belt body 10. The recessed portion 50 has a width smaller than the width between the two side edges 11 of the main belt body 10. The subsidiary belt body 40 is bonded to the recessed portion 50 and kept in flush with the surface of the main belt body 10.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of still another alternate form of the grip belt according to the present invention. According to this embodiment, the top layer 20 has two recessed portions 60 respectively abutted to the two opposite side edges 11 of the main belt body 10, and the subsidiary belt body 40 is bonded to one recessed portion 60 and a part of the top layer of the main belt body 10 to form a stepped covering to guide the user in wrapping the grip belt 1 about the handle of a sportswear.

As indicated above, the invention provides a grip belt for a racquet handle having a subsidiary belt body formed of a close-pored material bonded to a top layer formed of an open-pored material so that the grip thus formed of the grip belt on the racquet handle has a nice touch and anti-slip and sweat absorptive characteristics. 

1. A grip belt comprising: an elongated main belt body having a bottom layer made of non-woven fabric and an top layer made of an open-pored material and bonded to the bottom layer; and an elongated subsidiary belt body bonded to the top layer of the main belt body and made of a close-pored material, the subsidiary belt body having a width smaller than that of the main belt body.
 2. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subsidiary belt body has a side edge abutted on a side edge of the main belt body.
 3. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top layer of the main belt body has a recessed portion extending along the length of a side edge thereof; the subsidiary belt body is bonded to the recessed portion of the top layer of the main belt body.
 4. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top layer of the main belt body has a recessed portion extending along the length of a middle part thereof; the subsidiary belt body is bonded to the recessed portion of the top layer of the main belt body.
 5. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top layer of the main belt body has a recessed portion extending along the length of a side edge thereof; the subsidiary belt body is bonded to the recessed portion and a part of the top layer of the main belt body to form a stepped covering on the main belt body.
 6. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top layer of the main belt body is made of polyurethane; the subsidiary belt body is made of silicon material.
 7. The grip belt as claimed in claim 6, wherein the top layer of the main belt body has a rough contacting surface; the subsidiary belt body is bonded to the rough contacting surface of the top layer of the main belt body.
 8. The grip belt as claimed in claim 6, wherein the subsidiary belt body and the top layer of the main belt body have different colors.
 9. The grip belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top layer of the main belt body and the subsidiary belt body have different hardness. 